(Qyz, I wasn't sure where you wanted me to put this, feel free to move it somewhere else)Qyz says: this is the right spot; good show old bean!

Calling all DKC-Atlas'ers! We are planning a Donkey Kong History Month that will take place in November in order to celebrate the awesome that is Donkey Kong Country! At first we thought about writing several articles detailing different topics about DKC's history, but then we decided, why not let you guys do it?

Details:

Write an article about some topic dealing with the DK series, and post it here. Try to be creative, don't just write some article listing the releases and reception of each game. Here are some example ideas:

Spoiler!

-The Evolution of Donkey Kong: How our great ape came to be.(focussing on character/concept development from the 80's to '08)

-What did the DKC trilogy do for 16-bit gaming, and for video game design to follow?(DKC's impact on the gaming industry)

-Were the Donkey Kong Countries just another cookie-cutter platform game series?(NO, of course... and we can illustrate why this isn't the case by highlighting the DKCt's platforming innovations)

-Inconsistencies and continuity lapses; is there any clarity amidst the Kongfusion?(could focus on the 'fusion' (as in the apparent lack of distinction), between Cranky, DK Jr., and our DK... or perhaps this could be a more 'rounded' look at anything and everything that breaks continuity throughout the DK / DKC series'. Heck, why not have two separate articles to cover both options here.)

-What DKC still means to the legions of admiring fans, 14 years down the track(collection of fan appreciation accounts, interspersed with thoughtful, subjective narrative prose... or rampant fanboyism, as is more likely to be the case!)

You can write about any of the above topics, or come up with your own ideas.

If you write an article:Post it here, but put it into a spoiler tab. This will prevent it from stretching the page.

Of course, if you have a really good idea for an article, but don't feel like writing it, feel free to post your idea. Hopefully somebody will write it.

Note: We cannot guarantee that every article will be featured on the site. We will choose the best of the best, and decide which will be featured come November. We will notify you before-hand through PM. Please don't complain that your article wasn't chosen, not everybody can win.

NoteNote: Please don't copy and paste somebody else's article, and then just reword some of it. This should be fun, and people who do this will just ruin it for everybody.

Well, I think this is the best time to get ready. Early enough for people to write some good stuff, and late enough so that people won't forget all about it by then. I might write an article detailing the known Kong family connections.

All right, this is what I got so far, tell me what you guys think >_>.

Spoiler!

When Donkey Kong Country was released for the SNES, it had many platformers to challenge. The main enemy though, was Sonic the Hedgehog, which was stealing Mario’s (And nintendo’s) thunder and giving it to Sega. Therefore, Rare, the makers of DKC, had to make an innovative platformer. They had to make a game that tackled objects games don’t usually tackle. Therefore, DKC turned out to be one of the more innovative platformer games of its time.

Almost each level had its own gimmick. Whether it was barrel blasting or minecart jumping, almost every level had its own special features. It would start off easy at first, but continue to become harder and harder until the end of the level, where (At least to beginners) a seemingly impossible challenge would meet the player, before the end. This gave each stage a breath of fresh air, and kept the Donkey Kong Country games fresh and new.

To accompany the innovative stages Rare also brought in the excellent graphics. As you probably know, Donkey Kong Country was one of the first games (If not THE first) to use 3-D rendered models in a 2-D platforming game. This blew many gamers away, and it was the prime attraction. In each level, gamers would also be given beautiful backgrounds that set the mood for the level. It could be the jungle, slowly descending into nightfall, or the ice caves, where shiny crystals gleam softly into your sense of vision. Some people might criticize that the graphics were the only reason that DKC seemed appealing, and the actually gameplay itself was too childish. However, most of these people (Including Shigeru Miyamoto himself!) apologized for their statements as they soon saw what the game for what it really was.

I like it so far. It seems a little short, but I assume it's not done, is it? It could've been worded a little better in some places, but it's a good start. By the way:Yes, it was the first to use 3D models in a 2D game.

One thing I'll point out is that there seems to be a bit of unnecessary word/phrase repetition.

Example:

Spoiler!

Therefore, Rare, the makers of DKC, had to make an innovative platformer. They had to make a game that tackled objects games don’t usually tackle. Therefore, DKC turned out to be one of the more innovative platformer games of its time.

Almost each level had its own gimmick. Whether it was barrel blasting or minecart jumping, almost every level had its own special features. It would start off easy at first, but continue to become harder and harder until the end of the level, where (At least to beginners) a seemingly impossible challenge would meet the player, before the end. This gave each stage a breath of fresh air, and kept the Donkey Kong Country games fresh and new.

That kind of thing can be fixed easily, though (especially if you have a thesaurus or a wordy friend handy).

Thanks for the help guys, I got the mistakes all sorted out, and I was able to do some more, note that I haven't looked over this section so no doubt there are plenty mistakes . I'm gonna look over it tonight, I'm just showing so no one would think I'm slacking xD.

Spoiler!

Ah and what about the characters in the game, that many fans keep so close to their hearts? In the first Donkey Kong Country we were introduced to the majority of the DK crew. There were the two main protagonists. Donkey Kong who was all muscle and little to no brain, who had a short temper and would stop at nothing to get his banana horde back from King K.Rool (More on this fellow later). There was Diddy Kong, Donkey’s energetic sidekick who wanted to be just like his big buddy. He wasn’t that strong, but his intense speed in game more than made up for it.

Moving away from the main protagonists were the helpers of Donkey and Diddy. There was Cranky Kong [Note: I’m actually confused a little myself about the whole DK, cranky, and DK. Jr thing, once I get the official note about how Cranky is related to DK I’ll put it here)] who helped Donkey and Diddy out by giving hints on how to use Animal Buddies, or hitting on where hidden bonus rooms and banana caches were. There was Funky Kong, the rad monkey whose plane could take you to any area of DK island you’ve already visited. Finally, we have the somewhat disturbingly modeled Candy Kong. A female monkey who Donkey has a crush on, and she helped the player save his/her game.

The kongs were not the only good guys in the game of course, there were also the animal buddies! Who helped you pass through certain stages in creative ways! Rambi, most likely the fan-favorite for land travel, would help you smash your way through any enemies. Granted he was a little slow, but his powerful horn more than made up for it! Enguarde the swordfish was the water equivalent of Rambi. Just replace Rambi’s horn with a long sword and you have an aquatic killing machine at your disposal. As a matter of fact, enguarde was the only was you could even hope of killing the aquatic baddies underwater (Save the octopi).

Well, a couple of things:1) I don't really think that the characters have much to do with the topic (innovating the platforming genre). Maybe you could work it to explain how instead of having some kind of hitpoint system, you had two buddies. And how instead of having some menu, you have the Kong helpers. And you could say the animal buddies replaced having some weird unexplained power-up. These things gave the game much more personality.2) We are unsure of Candy's species, so you probably shouldn't call her a monkey.3) Cranky is the original Donkey Kong for sure. As for the other two, I'm not sure. I think it was confirmed that DK was DKJR all grown up, and not his son. I'll check back through the Family Theories Thread.4) Croctopi!

All right, did more revisions, and a lot more work, are we talking about all the DKC games, or just concentrating on the first one?

Spoiler!

What the innovative thing was about these two characters is how they use a sort of teamwork system. As you play the game, you’ll most likely be controlling both of the kongs at once, in a way. If you will be controlling Donkey, you would have access to all of his moves, with Diddy simply following him. Yet if you play as Diddy, you get to control him and use all of his abilities, while Donkey follows. This plays in a big role in strategy, for if you have both kongs at your possession (If you have two and get hurt, you will only have one kong. For example, if you are controlling Donkey and get hit, you’re stuck with Diddy until the next DK barrel, where you get to release Donkey), you can use each one for the best of his abilities.

Need to go through some tough kremlings that just won’t die by diddy’s hop? Get Donkey Kong out and knock some sense into their heads. Do you have to speed through a level as quickly as possible? Then Diddy will be your man for the occasion. Including their difference in speed and power, the two kongs both have different skills in swimming and jumping.

Moving away from the main protagonists were the helpers of Donkey and Diddy. There was Cranky Kong the ORIGINAL Donkey Kong from the arcade, who helped Donkey and Diddy out by giving hints on how to use Animal Buddies, or hitting on where hidden bonus rooms and banana caches were. There was Funky Kong, the rad monkey whose plane could take you to any area of DK Island you’ve already visited. Finally, we have the somewhat disturbingly modeled Candy Kong. A female…. Something (No one really knows at this time) who Donkey has a crush on and she helped the player save his/her game.

The kongs were not the only good guys in the game of course, there were also the animal buddies! Who helped you pass through certain stages in creative ways! Rambi, most likely the fan-favorite for land travel, would help you smash your way through any enemies. Granted he was a little slow, but his powerful horn more than made up for it! Enguarde the swordfish was the water equivalent of Rambi. Just replace Rambi’s horn with a long sword and you have an aquatic killing machine at your disposal. As a matter of fact, enguarde was the only was you could even hope of killing the aquatic baddies underwater (Save the croctopi).

Winky was a green frog with red spots that had incredible jumping skills and could take the kongs to new heights. He could even hop on those pesky zingers that are usually the main problem for the player throughout the game. Espresso the Ostrich who ran extremely fast, he could even jump high in the air and can use his feathers to slowly float down. The last unmentioned animal buddy is squawks the tiny parrot, who held a light to help you get through a dark cavern. Although he didn’t have much of an impact in the first DKC, he matures and eventually becomes a much bigger help to the kongs in the next two games.

The animal buddies were Rare’s response for power-ups in platformers. It seemed that they tried to make the so-called “Power-ups” as believable as possible. So then the kongs’ methods of help wouldn’t be so crazy (Great example, a flower that gives you the ability to throw fire balls. This kind of strange method wasn’t used in the rareware labs when making DKC).

Of course, the enemies had their own places to in the Donkey Kong Country world. Although the main enemies you fight are stereotypical Nintendo, green scaly creatures which can be easily defeated. It was their boss that was the surprising concept. Imagine, you go through this whole game fighting (Mostly) strong crocs and evil animals, which would stop at nothing for a taste of your blood. Then you get to the highly anticipated final level, and you are greeted with…. Upbeat pirate music!?

You are then met with some green fat reptile wearing a crown and a red robe far too small for his size. Of course this is not the kind of final villain you would expect. Then, the music starts getting more serious, the final villain, known as King K.Rool (Pronounced “King Cruel” but many fans prefer K with a space and then Rool since it sounds way better) begins to actually pounce on you with attacks. Rare has made a laughable looking villain actually difficult, and before you realize it your lives are going down the drain!

Of course, after you figure out his pattern, K.Rool is actually pretty easy, but for the fans who played it when they were as young as eight years old, it was a defining moment.

I like the improvements. Your definately coming along. A few new suggestions:1) It's a lot better, but after your done you should re-read through it to find any places where the wording is a little strange. Such as in the "Enguarde Section".2) Yeah, you should probably talk about the sequels, but in a much lesser extent. When you finish talking about the first one, you could mention the improvements made in both sequels, such as Team-up abilities, Squitter, the Brothers Bear, and the Lost Worlds, etc.3) You should get more into the gameplay eventually. You know, talking about all the gameplay innovations. Such as: Minecarts, Barrel blasting, bonuses, etc. 4) As young as eight? Try three! You should probably just say "since there childhood".

The only real problem I noticed with the 'Enguarde section' was (apart from capitalisation) a small typo:

...enguarde was the only was you could even hope...

Change that second 'was' to 'way', and you have instant coherence.

When I first suggested this topic; Was the Donkey Kong Country trilogy just another cookie-cutter platform game series?(edited slightly), I was intending it to be a fairly rounded look at the entire trilogy, rather than having a focus on the first game. Also, I know it's a work in progress, but it seems like you are paying too much attention to some descriptions, especially in regards to characters. If we're discussing innovations, I don't think there's all that much we need to say about the characters. Cranky's bitter, cynical and humorous breaking of the the fourth wall deserves mention, but other than that, I think the technical aspects of the game (sound/graphics), gameplay, level design etc. should get most of the attention.

Yeah, I noticed that "was" also. Another thing, the part where you say "(save for the croctopi)", in the context of the sentence it sounds like the croctopi is the only thing that you can kill without Enguarde, while it should be the only thing you can't kill period.

Oh, and I completely agree with Qyzbud about the character descriptions. Save that for my Family Tree article, yours is much more about the gameplay.

Well, since DKC History Month isn't until November, I was just going to have everyone go until we have a few good articles. It seems that we've only got one guy working on one, so we'll just keep going until we get more interest. I will be writing at least one, but I'm working on a few top secret projects currently. So no deadlines, but that doesn't mean to stop writing, we would like everything ready as soon as possible.

As for the deadlines, I agree that we don't need any at this point. Just so long as we have these articles in their final form by November. Perhaps a guideline could be to ensure that near-final drafts are submitted by the end of September, so that there's ample time for an author to receive critique, and make changes if necessary. Metroixer, you're playing it real smart by working on it and responding to suggestions in these early stages - good on ya!

Here's a little sample of what I have. Turning the swear filter off might help before you read it...

Spoiler!

Why Donkey Kong Should Kill Marioby Tiptup Jr.

If you are reading this, you have probably played a lil’ old game called Donkey Kong Country. If you haven’t played Donkey Kong Country, go kill yourself. Nobody wants you on this Earth. Anyway, this particular title started Donkey Kong’s career as a true video game icon. Some consider him the best (in this humble turtle’s opinion, he is), but many more people played Donkey Kong Country for a few seconds, got to Cranky’s house, and thought, “Hey, this is totally effing lame! I’m gonna go play Super Mario World!” Why does this happen, you ask? Well, no one really knows for sure, but it may have something to do with what I call the “Mario Factor”. Let me explain.

We Donkey Kong fans owe our entire existence to Mario, and Mario fans owe their existence to ours. Mario’s first appearance was in the Donkey Kong arcade game. In that game, it was Mario’s job to rescue his curvaceous lover, Pauline, from the clutches of Donkey Kong. In the next game, Mario captured Donkey Kong, but was later defeated by the ape’s son. The third game involved Stanley the Bugman protecting his greenhouse from Donkey Kong. So you can see how the series are intertwined, right? But do you also think that each series should be equal and all that jazz?

Well…sorry, but they’re not. From now until the end of time, Mario fans and gaming n00bs alike will refer to the Donkey Kong series as a Mario spin-off. Why? Like I said before…The Mario Factor.

Let me know what you guys think!

EDIT: Okay, how do you turn the swear filter off? The good peoples of this board must know!

Er... Well, I'll try to make it more "encyclopedia-like", but that's just not how I usually write. What, exactly, is the writing style we are trying to achieve here? Encyclopedia-style sounds pretty lame.

Well, I do agree with you a little about going "encyclopedia style", maybe there's a good middle ground? I guess I don't mind writing it your style, but be less opinionated and more informative. It's ok to write that way, but you need to tell the information more.

Every one of us has a favorite Kong. Be it Diddy Kong, Lanky Kong, or even Kiddy Kong. But how do they all relate within the Kong “Family”? Well, first we need to define the term Kong Family.

Kong Family- Any highly evolved ape in or around the Donkey Kong Island dons the “Kong” surname. They obviously are not all blood related, but are still referred to as “family”.

But how do they all fit in to the “Family Tree”? Well, lets list all the known lineages:

Cranky Kong- Also known as Donkey Kong SR. He’s the original Kong from the Arcades. He is married to Wrinkly Kong. They have at least 1 son, Donkey Kong JR. He is the DK from the DKC era and beyond, so we will just refer to him as Donkey Kong from now on.

Wrinkly Kong- She is married to Cranky Kong, and the mother of Donkey Kong.

Donkey Kong- Donkey Kong is the grown up version of Donkey Kong Jr. from the arcades. He is currently dating Candy Kong.

Diddy Kong- He is DK’s “little buddy”, and has sometimes been referred to as DK’s nephew, though this hasn’t been proven by a legitimate source. He is dating Dixie Kong. His parents are not known, but according to Diddy Kong Racing both of his parents are alive.

Dixie Kong- She is Diddy Kong’s girlfriend. She has a younger sister named Tiny Kong, and is cousins with Kiddy Kong and Chunky Kong.

Funky Kong- Funky really has no known lineages to the other Kongs, it has been theorized that he is DK’s brother, or Diddy’s father, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet.

Candy Kong- Candy Kong is DK’s girlfriend.

Swanky Kong- Nothing is known about Swanky Kongs relation to the Kong Family at this time.

Lanky Kong- Lanky Kong is not related to any of the other Kongs. He is just a good friend of the family.

Tiny Kong- Tiny is Dixie’s younger sister. She is also Chunky and Kiddy’s cousin.

The Jungle Beat Kongs- Donkey Kong Jungle Beat introduced these four evil Kong. They are named Karate Kong, Dread Kong, Ninja Kong, and Sumo Kong. They do not seem to be related to the main Kong family, but are probably all related to each other in someway.

The missing Kongs- There are two Kongs that never made it into the series. One is a farmer and hillbilly type character, and one looks like DK wearing a hat, deemed by fans Bumpkin Kong and City Kong, respectively. Nobody knows what there names would’ve been or how they were related to the family.

So that’s the convoluted mess that is the Kong Family Tree. As you can see there are plenty of missing holes, and there probably will never be a logical answer to any of our questions.

What do you guys think? Because of the recent news about the DK characters in Mario Super Sluggers, I'd like to try my hand at a "How the Mario and DK universes intertwine", that is, if Tiptup isn't still working on his.

Jomingo wrote:What do you guys think? Because of the recent news about the DK characters in Mario Super Sluggers, I'd like to try my hand at a "How the Mario and DK universes intertwine", that is, if Tiptup isn't still working on his.

As surprising as it may seem, I'm still alive and working on the Mario-DK article. Feel free to write whatever you want, of course.

Do you remember, a long time ago, a character that went by the name of Kiddy Kong? What about Swanky Kong? Chunky Kong? Hmmm, is it starting to come back to you? Wow, they have been gone a long time. Kiddy Kong, the lovable toddler from Donkey Kong Country 3 that doesn’t know his own strength hasn’t been seen since, well, Donkey Kong Country 3; unless of course you count the port/semi-sequel Donkey Kong Land 3. Either way, we haven’t seen him in over 10 years. What about Swanky Kong? Remember him? That game show host, who always held those fun little mini-games? He hasn’t been seen since DKC3 either! Who was that last one again? Oh yeah, Chunky Kong! He was in Donkey Kong 64, right? That was his first and last appearance! But why aren’t these characters around anymore? Who decided which characters would return and who wouldn’t? Well, let’s take a look at all 3 characters, and discuss why they will most likely never be seen again.

First off, Kiddy Kong. Dixie Kong’s baby cousin, who helped her save Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong from the new Kremling breed. He was essentially created to be a replacement for DK, but he picked up his own unique abilities along the way. But Donkey Kong Land 3 was his last real appearance. Why is this? Well, there are several reasons.

First, Donkey Kong 64. Yes, when the time came that a 3D sequel to Donkey Kong Country was neccessary, Rare was ready. Originally, you were going to be able to play as all four of the Kong heroes; DK, Diddy, Dixie, and Kiddy. But Rare decided early on that they were going to stick to there roots, and only bring back characters from the original Donkey Kong Country. So Dixie and Kiddy had to be replaced, and Tiny Kong and Chunky Kong were born. They were nothing but clones, through and through, and of course, once a clone character is created, there is no reason to bring back the character he is cloned from. The sad part is, when Rare said they would only include characters from the first Donkey Kong Country, they actually ended up breaking this rule, as Wrinkly Kong made her way into the game(though she died trying!).

Perhaps the biggest reason that Kiddy can’t return is this: age. Yes, Kiddy was a toddler, very young and innocent, often prone to temper tantrums. But if he were to appear in a new game, wouldn’t he have aged? According to the DK64 instruction manual, Donkey Kong 64 takes place 3 years after Donkey Kong Land 3. So Kiddy should have aged 3 years older, but this would certainly defeat the whole purpose of his character. The only reason for his existence is that he is the obligatory baby character of the Kong family. He certainly would have lost his charm as a whining 5 year old. This could be one of the reasons Rare decided not to include him in DK64, who knows.

There is one problem with that though. Anyone remember a game called Donkey Kong Racing? Well, if you don’t, let me fill you in. In 2003 Rare was working on a Donkey Kong racing game for the Nintendo Gamecube. In some early screenshots, we can clearly see Kiddy Kong riding on Ellie the Elephant, in his normal toddler form, no less! Perhaps Rare might have decided that there was no need to age the character, like in most cartoons. Well, sadly this game was Kiddy’s last hope for returning, and it was cancelled after Microsoft bought Rare.

Let’s move on to another missing Kong, Chunky Kong. If you had read the part about Kiddy Kong you would know that Chunky was created as a replacement for Kiddy. But why was he abandoned after his single outing? Well, let’s take a look at a few of the reasons.

First, Chunky was created at a bad time. A few years after DK64 came out, Nintendo’s new systems arrived; the Game Boy Advance, and the Nintendo Gamecube. Rare was quick to start work on 3 DK spin-off titles; two racing games and one puzzle game. They certainly weren’t ready to start work on another Donkey Kong platformer, after all, they had the entire lifespan of the Gamecube to do that. Unfortunately, terror struck. After several internal losses and a few flopped titles, Nintendo sold Rare to Microsoft. This prevented Rare from ever making any main Donkey Kong games again.

Ever since then there have been few Donkey Kong platformers, and they seemed to be trying to push the image of Donkey Kong being the toughest guy around. Chunky Kong would obviously conflict with this image. Then more recently a company called Paon emerged to make a few DK titles, and in each of them they have further pushed the idea that Funky Kong is the tough guy of the group. It seems this proposal won’t be going away anytime soon, and there is really no need for two strong characters.

There was one last resort for Chunky Kong, though, and it’s name is Diddy Kong Racing DS. When Rare decided to update there N64 classic they needed to replace two characters, Banjo and Conker. They decided on Dixie Kong(obviously) and Tiny Kong. Now, I know this was a long shot, but that last spot taken by Tiny was Chunky’s only hope. See, they needed to bring back a character. They probably would have chosen one of the playable Kongs. They didn’t want DK because he would take the focus away from Diddy. They didn’t want Kiddy because of the age issue. Lanky wouldn’t do because he was such an oddball, and seemed to have nearly no connection with Diddy. So it was either Chunky or Tiny. Well, it seems Chunky would be the obvious choice. He’s replacing Banjo, and Banjo is a heavy character, so it fits. And Tiny was almost identical to Dixie anyway. So why did they choose Tiny? Well, we may never know. They went with Tiny, and to get around the clone thing they redesigned her. Now she’s freakishly tall and has become a clone of Candy Kong, and thus Chunky shall forever remain in video game limbo, hoping his last hope to return someday.

Now for the final missing Kong, Swanky. This one is perhaps the most perplexing. He was a great character, that could basically be inserted into almost any DK game since his disappearance. He had one purpose and one purpose only: Mini-games. In today’s casual game market mini-games are all the rage, it’s almost insane not to include Swanky!

But fret not, for even though we haven’t seen him for many years, we do know he still exists within the Donkey Kong continuity. In the 2005 game Mario Superstar Baseball, DK has his own baseball field. What does this have to do with Swanky Kong, you ask? Well, on the back of the field there is a large billboard advertising Swanky’s bonus game! Now, I know this is just a Mario sport game, and that it barely fits into the continuity, but it’s still an important sign nonetheless.

So that’s it, 3 fantastic characters who may never be seen again. But remember, they aren’t gone as long as they are in our hearts (cue slideshow showing each character’s birth year and death year, with mournful music in the background).

I think someone else could come up with a better title. Please point out any mistakes/inaccuracies.

This I agree with. I dunno how many times I've had to explain to various people on other gaming sites WHY Donkey Kong is not a Mario spinoff.

I'm also very dis-heartened when I see Smash bros roster lists listing DK, Diddy, and others as Mario characters..... the first and second times I saw it, I nearly cried, or erupted into a furious rage, I dunno.

Anyway, I should get working on this, if DKH Month is November, yikes, I only have 4 months!!!

Great! It seems everyone else has abandoned there articles, so the ones I've made and plan to make would be the only ones. I'm glad you are interested in doing one, I don't want to be the only one to write all the articles.

So you've heard reasons why they wouldn't be returning. Now I will cover reasons why they are likely to return. In recent years we saw the return of many characters. Be it Bill Grey and Kat Munroe from Star Fox to Captain Syrup in the Wario series to Tiny, Lanky, Klump, and Kopter from our very own DK series. Who are we to say that these characters won't be returning when years ago the same was being said about the characters I just mentioned.

One of the more popular of the three Kongs missing in action is Chunky Kong. Chunky Kong first appeared in Donkey Kong 64, a game that nearly every N64 owner has played. So it is no surprise that people who have played Barrel Blast have been wondering why Chunky isn't in the game. I'll have to admit I'm a bit disappointed as well and wondered the same thing. Seeing Lanky and Tiny in the game makes us think of Chunky. At first we thought those three were inseperable until Diddy Kong Racing DS. This may be an unpopular opinion but I'd prefer Chunky over Funky in Barrel Blast. Common complaints are parallel with Tiny in that Chunky Kong is a Kiddy Kong knock-off in DK64. I would rush to Tiny's defense to but maybe in a later article. First of all this isn't true. Kiddy Kong stood about slightly taller then Dixie in DKC3 and still smaller then a standing Donkey Kong. He was small enough to ve able to ride on Dixie Kong's back. Do you think Donkey Kong would've been able to do that. So how can that toddler be stronger then DK? He couldn't. Thats why Chunky was the powerhouse in DK64 he was bigger and stood taller then both DK and Funky who also was in the game but sold ammunition to the Kongs since he hates adventuring. That also brings to the theory that Funky has been redesigned to fill the strong kong role. Funky Kong actually looks the same as he has always looked I'm surprised people now all of a sudden relize he is a heavy weight now that he is playable. Even with Funky's size he still isn't as big and strong as Chunky or possibly even Donkey. Funky is the more laid back Kong that prefers inventing and racing and hates adventuring. Chunky was also the only three of the missing Kongs to get a sticker in Brawl. I'm sure the fans aren't the only ones missing Chunky. There has got to be someone at Nintendo pushing for our favorite strong yet timid and cowardly ape for a return.

Kiddy Kong is a name that DKC gamers usually forget. His name is actually Dinky in Japan to keep the tradition of having a every Kong protaganist within the DK series have the initials DK. There is no way to deny that he was the fourth main Kong within the DKC trilogy. He was quite unpopular with some people and even those people wonder why he wasn't in Barrel Blast. The thing about Kiddy Kong is that with Tiny Kong's reappearence it would be weird not to make him look more grown up not grow bigger then DK but maybe lose that baby weight and wear more grown up looking clotthing. Maybe they could work him down to a light-heavy weight instead of a heavy weight or a light weight. Regardless with DKC3 now out on the Virtual Console. I'm sure people will remember who he is. Hopefully Nintendo will bring him back soon.

On to Swanky Kong. Swanky was one of the three Kongs who first appeared in DKC2. He was the game show host wear he would gladly give away prizes if you passed his quiz. He was in DKC3 as a host of carnival styled games wear he would reward you whether you won or lost. He is somewhat of a counterpart to Funky. Where as Funky is a hip surfer Kong, Swanky is the serious business fun Kong. He was at a disadvantage compared to the other helper Kongs as he didn't appear in DK64 like the others. However people do remember Swanky. How can they forget the afro Kong from DKC2 or the swanky looking Kong from DKC3.

Well, the article was already finished. You're kinda supposed to write your own article, not add to others. Besides, the whole point of my article was why they were gone, and why they were likely never to be seen again.

I really don't see how that can be properly combined into my article while still retaining a good flow. Also, I thought my article was getting too long as it is, we definately don't need to add to it.

I like your enthusiasm, but you should really write your own article. We encourage our members to exhibit this sort of creativity, especially when it is for an official site project, but we'd rather have you write us more articles rather than add to an already nearly finished one.

Sorry I didn't mean for it to add on. I just have been itching to write an article like that for the longest time. Since I've seen alot of people who say Kiddy and Chunky will never return around different forums. I may do one on why putting Tiny Kong and Chunky Kong in DK64 was a good decision. Though I tihink I already touched on that subject through Chunky Kong in my last article.

That's really nicely written, swoopy. Even though Jomingo's not keen to include those sentiments into his article, I hope you plan to continue this as a feature of your own. Lots of really valid stuff in there.

Today is the anniversary of one of the most influential platformers in gaming history; the game that successfully breathed life back into a series that hadn’t had a real sequel in over ten years; the game that single-handedly pumped 2 years of life back into the Super NES. The game I’m speaking of is of course Donkey Kong Country, Rare’s most successful game. In honor of the anniversary(and Thanksgiving), here is a feature detailing the games influence in the gaming industry.

When Rare showed Nintendo some of the advanced modeling techniques they were experimenting with it started the chain of events that would bring Nintendo‘s first gaming franchise back to the forefront of the gaming world and give Rare the resources to create some of the top games in history. After they dazzled Nintendo with there ACM technology, Rare asked if they could make a Donkey Kong game, thus starting the series that we have all come to know and love….

Donkey Kong Country was released on November 25th, 1994. It was acclaimed by critics and fans alike for it’s addictive gameplay, groundbreaking graphics, and fantastic music. It was the best looking game around, even when compared to the power of the “32 bit” Playstation and Sega Saturn. It has sold 8.5 million games worldwide. It spawned 2 sequels, both of which are in the top 11 selling SNES games, and helped to prolong the demise of the aging Super NES.

It’s been 14 years since this pinnacle of gaming hit the store shelves, so it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t take a look at what’s become of the series in the past 14 years:

Rare released Diddy Kong Racing in November of 1997, a racing game starring DK’s little buddy Diddy Kong. Following Rare tradition it pushed the kart racing genre to new depths, with several innovative features including the ability to drive a car, plane, or hovercraft, and also including an in depth adventure mode. It introduced the world to the Rare franchises of tomorrow, including Banjo-Kazooie, a critically acclaimed platformer called by some the DKC of the N64, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day, a cult classic but overall financial flop. It also introduced a music technique in which the music would change mood midway through a track or in a different part of the over world without any troublesome load times. This technique would later be used in Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64. The game sold almost 4.5 million copies.

In 1999, it was time for Rare to make another Donkey Kong platformer, and everyone was waiting to see what they could do with the DK series in 3 dimensions. Thus Donkey Kong 64 was released in November of 1999, to generally positive reviews. It was a great attempt at a 3D platformer, but it lacked the amount of groundbreaking innovation that Donkey Kong Country boasted. It did use advanced lighting techniques which made it the first N64 game to require an expansion pack. Many thought that it had too many items to collect, and that it was tedious. Nonetheless, it sold 3.7 million copies, making it the 8th best selling N64 game.

After doing a few other projects, Rare had 3 more DK games planned in May of 2003, and that’s when tragedy struck. Nintendo decided not to renew Rare’s contract and sold them off to Microsoft, preventing them from developing DK titles. The 3 DK games in production at the time were either cancelled or reworked to star other Rare characters. One of them, Donkey Kong Racing was shaping up to be another genre bending hit, using animal buddies as the vehicles. Sadly, it never came to be.

Since the buyout Nintendo has let other developers make DK games. The world wondered whether this might be a good idea. Perhaps a developer would come around and take the DK series back to it’s roots. In 2005, we had our answer. Donkey Konga and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat were released, both games using a new bongo peripheral, and both games completely ignoring what made the series great, Jungle Beat even going as far as to try and reinvent the series with new characters! Thankfully, there was a silver lining on the horizon, and it’s name was King of Swing.

Donkey Kong: King of Swing was released for the Game Boy advances by Japanese developer Paon, and they actually seemed to care about the series they were handling. It spawned a sequel in 2007 for the Nintendo DS, and they also developed a racing game for the Wii called Donkey Kong Barrel Blast.

Recently, the trilogy of Donkey Kong Country games have been re-released on Nintendo’s Virtual Console and are some of the best selling titles on the service.

The future of the franchise seems hazy at this point. Sure, with Paon’s recent games staying true to the series and the recent surge of DK representation in Mario sport games it may be looking up. But then again the only announced title at this point is a remake of Jungle Beat. Nevertheless, no matter where the series goes or how far it strays from what made it great, we can always go back to Donkey Kong Country, because they can’t take away it’s greatness.